Access to information has led to the success of the wireless communication device industry. Handheld wireless devices have successfully introduced portable devices that enable users to have wireless access to features such as electronic mail (e-mail) and the Internet.
Referring to FIG. 1, a communication infrastructure is illustrated generally by numeral 100. The communication infrastructure 100 comprises a plurality of communication devices 102, a communication network 104, a gateway 106, and a plurality of backend services 108.
The communication devices 102 include any wired or wireless device such as a desktop computer, a laptop or mobile computer, a smart phone, a personal digital assistant, such as a Blackberry™ by Research in Motion for example, and the like. The communication devices 102 are in communication with the gateway 106 via the communication network 104. Accordingly, the communication network 104 may include several components such as a wireless network 110, a relay 112, a corporate server 114 and/or a mobile data server (MDS) 116 for relaying messages between the devices 102 and the gateway 106. The gateway 106 is further in communication with a plurality of the backend servers 108. The types of backend servers 108 and their corresponding links will be apparent to a person of ordinary skill in the art.
In the present embodiment, the MDS 116 provides a platform for mobile applications running on wireless, packet-data networks by providing a secure gateway between the wireless network and corporate intranets and the Internet. Further, in the present embodiment the MDS operates as part of the corporate server 114. An example of a corporate server 114 is the Blackberry Enterprise Server provide by Research in Motion. The corporate server 114 provides functions for enabling wireless applications, including network connectivity, encryption, data transcoding, and push support.
Further, the MDS 116 provides communication protocols such Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) and Transfer Communication Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) connections from communication devices 102 to corporate intranets or the Internet. Typically, standard protocols are used to minimize the need to learn or apply new connectivity techniques, and allow new or existing corporate applications to be extended easily to the communication devices 102. However, it will be appreciated that proprietary protocols may also be used.
The MDS 116 performs the necessary address translation to route data between the communication device 102 and IP networks, so the details of addressing between various networks need not be addressed by application developers.
The MDS 116 supports multiple networks and communication devices 102, which enables an organization to deploy and manage its data applications on a single, consistent architecture.
The corporate server 114 provides a secure, private connection between the enterprise and the communication device 102. Using encryption algorithms such as Triple Data Encryption Standard (DES) symmetric key encryption, data flowing between the handheld and the corporate network is fully encrypted. Typically, data is not decrypted at any intermediate point.
Further, the corporate server 114 maintains information about communication device 102 users in the enterprise. Thus for example, push applications can send corporate data to specific users even when they change device, subscriber identity module (SIM) cards, or networks.
As part of the corporate server 114, the MDS 116 uses the same secure architecture. Accordingly, standard HTTP can be used to access a corporate intranet, but sensitive corporate data remains confidential.
As an HTTP proxy and transformation engine, the corporate server 114 can convert and process data that passes between communication device applications and a content server. Using MDS 116, plug-in transcoders can be written to perform custom filtering that delivers content to wireless devices in an efficient and appropriate format.
Lastly, the communication devices 102 can remain continuously connected to the wireless network. Therefore, data can be sent without users having to request it explicitly. This push capability enables wireless enterprise applications that may increase users' productivity and make efficient use of the network.
Typically, the corporate server 114 is responsible for sending new email messages to users' communication devices 102 automatically, while the MDS 116 enables a software developer to write push applications that send new corporate content and alerts to specific users' communication devices 102. Therefore, information can be delivered to the communication devices 102 as it becomes available and users do not have to initiate data exchange and download.
However, one problem faced by most, if not all, of the users of such devices is the limitation and/or cost of bandwidth. Communication across the wireless network 110 can be both slow and costly. Further, another problem is the appropriateness of pushed (and pulled) content. That is, content having no business relevance that is transferred to the communication device 102 often consumes significant resources, including network resources, server resource, and human resources. Accordingly, there is a need for a system and method that limits occupying these resources unnecessarily.